Dynamic billboard advertisement for vehicular traffic

ABSTRACT

A method, computer system, and a computer program product for dynamic billboard advertisements is provided. The present invention may include determining that a vehicle is approaching a display location. The present invention may then include receiving a plurality of data associated with the approaching vehicle. The present invention may then include resolving an advertisement to be displayed based on the received plurality of data. The present invention may then include establishing the display location based on the received plurality of data. The present invention may finally include projecting the resolved advertisement at the established display location.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates generally to the field of computing, andmore particularly to electronic advertisements.

A billboard is a large outdoor advertising screen that may be placed ina high traffic area to display an advertisement along a roadside. Theadvertisement displayed on a billboard may intend to attract theattention of motorists or pedestrians, and may include promotionalmaterial, upcoming events, and new technology, among other things.Billboard advertising may depend on the location of the billboard andthe intended or targeted audience.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present invention disclose a method, computer system,and a computer program product for dynamic billboard advertisements. Thepresent invention may include determining that a vehicle is approachinga display location. The present invention may then include receiving aplurality of data associated with the approaching vehicle. The presentinvention may then include resolving an advertisement to be displayedbased on the received plurality of data. The present invention may theninclude establishing the display location based on the receivedplurality of data. The present invention may finally include projectingthe resolved advertisement at the established display location.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will become apparent from the following detailed descriptionof illustrative embodiments thereof, which is to be read in connectionwith the accompanying drawings. The various features of the drawings arenot to scale as the illustrations are for clarity in facilitating oneskilled in the art in understanding the invention in conjunction withthe detailed description. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrates a networked computer environment according to atleast one embodiment;

FIG. 2 is an operational flowchart illustrating a process for dynamicbillboard advertisements according to at least one embodiment;

FIG. 3 illustrates a built-in screen used by the dynamic billboardadvertisement process according to at least one embodiment;

FIG. 4 illustrates an external billboard used by the dynamic billboardadvertisement process according to at least one embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of internal and external components ofcomputers and servers depicted in FIG. 1 according to at least oneembodiment;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an illustrative cloud computing environmentincluding the computer system depicted in FIG. 1, in accordance with anembodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of functional layers of the illustrative cloudcomputing environment of FIG. 6, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Detailed embodiments of the claimed structures and methods are disclosedherein; however, it can be understood that the disclosed embodiments aremerely illustrative of the claimed structures and methods that may beembodied in various forms. This invention may, however, be embodied inmany different forms and should not be construed as limited to theexemplary embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these exemplaryembodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough andcomplete and will fully convey the scope of this invention to thoseskilled in the art. In the description, details of well-known featuresand techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring thepresented embodiments.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product at any possible technical detail level of integration.The computer program product may include a computer readable storagemedium (or media) having computer readable program instructions thereonfor causing a processor to carry out aspects of the present invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a solid state drive, a random accessmemory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmableread-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), a static random access memory(SRAM), a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digitalversatile disk (DVD), a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanicallyencoded device such as punch-cards or raised structures in a groovehaving instructions recorded thereon, and any suitable combination ofthe foregoing. A computer readable storage medium, as used herein, isnot to be construed as being transitory signals per se, such as radiowaves or other freely propagating electromagnetic waves, electromagneticwaves propagating through a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g.,light pulses passing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signalstransmitted through a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, configuration data for integrated circuitry, oreither source code or object code written in any combination of one ormore programming languages, including an object oriented programminglanguage such as Smalltalk, C++, or the like, and procedural programminglanguages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programminglanguages. The computer readable program instructions may executeentirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as astand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partlyon a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. Inthe latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user'scomputer through any type of network, including a local area network(LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to anexternal computer (for example, through the Internet using an InternetService Provider). In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including,for example, programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gatearrays (FPGA), or programmable logic arrays (PLA) may execute thecomputer readable program instructions by utilizing state information ofthe computer readable program instructions to personalize the electroniccircuitry, in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the blocks may occur out of theorder noted in the Figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

The following described exemplary embodiments provide a system, methodand program product for dynamic billboard advertisements. As such, thepresent embodiment has the capacity to improve the technical field ofelectronic advertising by rendering advertisements (e.g., on billboards)responsive to an approaching vehicle. More specifically, the dynamicbillboard advertisement system may determine that a vehicle isapproaching. The dynamic billboard advertisement system may then receivean identification of the approaching vehicle. The dynamic billboardadvertisement system may then resolve the advertisement to be displayedbased on the received identification. The dynamic billboardadvertisement system may then establish a display location and mayfinally project the advertisement.

As described previously, a dynamic billboard may be used for dynamicallydisplaying advertisements along a roadside. Holographic technology maypermit digital objects to be plotted in midair, on a screen, or in/on aholographic medium. The dynamic advertisement displayed on the billboardmay be responsive to an approaching vehicle, or its driver or passenger,where applicable, and may be plotted either on an external billboard orwithin the vehicle's built-in screen. The orientation, shape, anddimension of the advertisement may also be dynamic.

However, static and electronic billboards which may frequently be usedto display advertisements on a roadside may not have the ability todisplay digital multi-dimensional objects in midair. Therefore, it maybe advantageous to, among other things, utilize a dynamic holographicbillboard to display an array of advertisements in midair, on a screen,or in/on a holographic medium, based on determined viewercharacteristics.

According to at least one embodiment, the dynamic billboardadvertisement system may project the advertisement on a freestandingexternal billboard (e.g., a remote advertisement hologram). To do so,the dynamic billboard advertisement system may include a camera meansand/or a transceiver means to identify the vehicle approachingdirectional range (e.g., coming within view of an upcoming billboard).The approaching vehicle may be equipped with a beacon or transponderthat communicates key attributes of the vehicle and/or the vehicleoccupants back to the dynamic billboard advertising system. The dynamicbillboard advertisement system may then decide on which vehicle, driver,or passenger to focus the advertising. A prioritization scheme may beemployed by the dynamic billboard advertisement system to decide whichadvertisement to be displayed. For example, if the approaching vehicleis determined to be over ten years old, an advertisement for a new carmay be displayed. As another example, if a male in his mid-thirties isidentified as driving a new Vehicle A, determined to be of good qualityby the dynamic billboard advertisement program 110 a, 110 b, anadvertisement for a nice restaurant may be displayed.

According to at least one embodiment, the dynamic billboardadvertisement system may utilize a priority scheme for determining whatadvertisement to display in instances where there are multiple vehiclesapproaching the dynamic billboard at the same time. The dynamicbillboard advertisement system may resolve the collected data and useanalytics to determine an advertisement to display based on thecollected data. For example, the priority scheme may be based onprecedence afforded to the one or more advertisements associated withthe given billboard, or the gender association of the one or moreadvertisements (that is, the priority scheme may give precedence togender neutral advertisements in instances where there is a mixedpopulation approaching the dynamic billboard, in order to appeal to agreater population of viewers). Likewise, in instances where the trafficdensity may be high (the number of vehicles or time of day associatedwith a “high density” scenario may be pre-programmed by the dynamicbillboard advertisement system), the dynamic billboard advertisementsystem may not project advertisements which are based on identifiedvehicle attributes, but may display a pre-programmed suite ofadvertisements more likely to appeal to the general population.

According to at least one embodiment, the dynamic billboardadvertisement system may also project the advertisement on a built-inscreen within the approaching vehicle. In some instances, the hologrammay also be rendered on the vehicle's windshield, where it may be small,substantially transparent, and offset from the driver's field of view tominimize safety implications.

According to at least one embodiment, in either instance previouslymentioned, whether the advertisement is displayed within an approachingvehicle or on a freestanding billboard, the dynamic billboardadvertisement system may be responsive to a remote controller (e.g., aprivate or public controller that may be situated on a roadside or in aroadside shop, among other locations). A remote controller may also bereferred to as a hologram controller. As a vehicle approaches thehologram controller, the hologram controller may send data for aholographic rendering of an advertisement on the approaching vehicle'shologram display area (which may be a windshield, screen or otherdisplay device) or on a freestanding billboard, based on one or moreexternal factors (e.g., whether the approaching traffic light is greenor red). If an approaching vehicle is in close proximity to more thanone hologram controller, data collected regarding the vehicle'soccupants may be used to determine which advertisement to display. Forexample, collected data may include cell phone browsing historycollected over Bluetooth® (Bluetooth and all Bluetooth-based trademarksand logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Bluetooth SIG, Inc.and/or its affiliates) or wi-fi connectivity, facial recognition data todetermine the occupant's gender and age, or vehicle recognition data.The prioritization scheme discussed above may also be utilized inconjunction with any collected data.

According to at least one alternate embodiment, a displayedadvertisement may be operable at a traffic signal; or a personalizedadvertisement may be displayed in response to vehicle instruction.

Referring to FIG. 1, an exemplary networked computer environment 100 inaccordance with one embodiment is depicted. The networked computerenvironment 100 may include a computer 102 with a processor 104 and adata storage device 106 that is enabled to run a software program 108and a dynamic billboard advertisement program 110 a. The networkedcomputer environment 100 may also include a server 112 that is enabledto run a dynamic billboard advertisement program 110 b that may interactwith a database 114 and a communication network 116. The networkedcomputer environment 100 may include a plurality of computers 102 andservers 112, only one of which is shown. The communication network 116may include various types of communication networks, such as a wide areanetwork (WAN), local area network (LAN), a telecommunication network, awireless network, a public switched network and/or a satellite network.It should be appreciated that FIG. 1 provides only an illustration ofone implementation and does not imply any limitations with regard to theenvironments in which different embodiments may be implemented. Manymodifications to the depicted environments may be made based on designand implementation requirements.

The client computer 102 may communicate with the server computer 112 viathe communications network 116. The communications network 116 mayinclude connections, such as wire, wireless communication links, orfiber optic cables. As will be discussed with reference to FIG. 5,server computer 112 may include internal components 902 a and externalcomponents 904 a, respectively, and client computer 102 may includeinternal components 902 b and external components 904 b, respectively.Server computer 112 may also operate in a cloud computing service model,such as Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), orInfrastructure as a Service (IaaS). Server 112 may also be located in acloud computing deployment model, such as a private cloud, communitycloud, public cloud, or hybrid cloud. Client computer 102 may be, forexample, a mobile device, a telephone, a personal digital assistant, anetbook, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a desktop computer, orany type of computing devices capable of running a program, accessing anetwork, and accessing a database 114. According to variousimplementations of the present embodiment, the dynamic billboardadvertisement program 110 a, 110 b may interact with a database 114 thatmay be embedded in various storage devices, such as, but not limited toa computer/mobile device 102, a networked server 112, or a cloud storageservice.

According to the present embodiment, a user using a client computer 102or a server computer 112 may use the dynamic billboard advertisementprogram 110 a, 110 b (respectively) to display dynamic advertisements ona freestanding billboard or on a vehicle's built-in screen based onvarious viewer characteristics and external factors. The dynamicbillboard advertisement method is explained in more detail below withrespect to FIGS. 2-4.

Referring now to FIG. 2, an operational flowchart illustrating theexemplary dynamic billboard advertisement process 200 used by thedynamic billboard advertisement program 110 a and 110 b according to atleast one embodiment is depicted.

At 202, the dynamic billboard advertisement program 110 a, 110 bdetermines that a vehicle is approaching. The dynamic billboardadvertisement program 110 a, 110 b may receive information from a camera(e.g., motion detection and image recognition), laser, GlobalPositioning System (GPS), or sensor (e.g., inductive, mechanical, orpneumatic) embedded within a road, among other means, to indicate that avehicle is approaching an intersection or is in view of a givenbillboard. An embedded sensor may not be located directly in anintersection, however, may be located close thereto so that as a vehicleapproaches the intersection, the embedded sensor may sense the movingvehicle at a low cost and may signal to the dynamic billboardadvertisement program 110 a, 110 b that a vehicle is present. Forexample, a camera is attached to a dynamic billboard, situated in thesame line of sight as the billboard, and is installed directly under it.The attached camera determines via motion detection and imagerecognition that a vehicle is approaching.

At 204, the dynamic billboard advertisement program 110 a, 110 breceives data relative to the approaching vehicle. A camera means, forexample, may capture the image of the vehicle and a processing means mayprocess the captured image (e.g., determine the type of vehicle based onthe vehicle's brand name or logo or the shape of vehicle, the age of thevehicle, whether there are any passengers, the age of the driver andpassengers, and the gender of the driver and passengers, among otherdeterminations). The camera means may have the ability to zoom in andout so that the body of the vehicle may be captured in one shot and anyoccupants may be captured in another. Based on the processed andcollected image information, several means may be utilized to identifythe target audience. One such means may be based on identification ofthe one or more vehicles approaching the billboard or intersection(e.g., car make, car year, speed of car). Another such means may bebased on identification of the occupants inside the one or morevehicles. For example, by capturing an image of the occupants of thevehicle the dynamic billboard advertisement program 110 a, 110 b maydetermine whether an occupant has fine lines on his or her face therebyindicating that the occupant may be young or old. Yet another such meansmay be based on external factors such as the time of day and whether thevehicle is traveling with or against the main flow of traffic.

In instances where the image processing means associated with thedynamic billboard advertisement program 110 a, 110 b may not be able toidentify characteristics of the vehicle and/or its occupants (e.g., dueto foggy weather, dark driving conditions, or vehicle headlights causingthe camera to be washed out), the dynamic billboard advertisementprogram 110 a, 110 b may refer to a probability matrix of vehicles oroccupants likely to pass through a given intersection based onpreviously collected data. The probability matrix of previouslycollected data may permit the dynamic billboard advertisement program110 a, 110 b to determine a likely vehicle and proceed as though thatvehicle is the one that traveled past the given camera.

The collected data may also include cell phone data of an occupant of anapproaching vehicle, where that occupant is connected via acommunications network 116 to a Bluetooth® or wi-fi network shared bythe holographic billboard. In one instance, the holographic billboardmay put out a wi-fi signal and devices of vehicles entering the wi-finetwork (e.g., within range of the wi-fi signal) may connect to thewi-fi network and may effectuate the transfer of cookies, metadata, andinformation requests stored locally on the occupant's device. However,this transfer may be done without a wi-fi signal and with a Bluetooth®signal instead. Both Bluetooth® and wi-fi may require a close colocationof the billboard and connected device. The dynamic billboardadvertisement program 110 a, 110 b may also permit an occupant toutilize a cellular network and GPS to indicate that the occupant islocated near a given billboard. Connection over a cellular network maybe less location specific, as the device may not be required to be inclose proximity to a given billboard in order to transfer data to thebillboard over a cellular network.

Additionally, an occupant may transmit over a communications network 116(e.g., Bluetooth®, wi-fi, or cellular) a special request for a givenadvertisement. The special request may become high priority for thedynamic billboard advertisement program 110 a, 110 b, based on the factthat the occupant is now identifying himself or herself as part of aspecific market and is no longer a general element of an unknown market.That is to say that in instances where an occupant indicates that he orshe is searching for a certain type of item, the dynamic billboardadvertisement program 110 a, 110 b may receive this information andrecognize that an advertisement concerning the searched for item or itsgeneral class may be of particular interest and appeal.

Next, at 206, the dynamic billboard advertisement program 110 a, 110 bresolves the advertisement to be displayed. In doing so, the dynamicbillboard advertisement program 110 a, 110 b may consider one or morefactors, the weight of which may change given time of day, whether theadvertisement may be displayed during rush hour travel, and the amountof money being paid for a given advertisement, among other factors. Thedynamic billboard advertisement program 110 a, 110 b may utilize ananalytics-based algorithm, whereby structured and unstructured data maybe discovered and interpreted, and meaningful patterns may becommunicated; or a cognitive computing-based algorithm, whereby datamining, pattern recognition, and natural language processing may beutilized to create a self-learning system. For example, during rush hourtravel, there may be a high density of vehicles on the road, which maybe moving slower, and whose occupants may have more time to focus on theadvertisement being displayed. This may become an advertiser's primeadvertising timeslot because visibility will be high and the number ofvehicles driving past the billboard without having time to notice theadvertisement will be low. A prioritization scheme utilized by thedynamic billboard advertisement program 110 a, 110 b may incorporate theone or more factors discussed above to determine that the primeadvertising timeslot should be given to the advertiser who is paying themost amount of money for their exposure (e.g., the profit generated froma given advertisement may be considered).

If there are multiple vehicles approaching a holographic billboard atthe same time, the dynamic billboard advertisement program 110 a, 110 bmay utilize the same prioritization scheme described above to resolvewhat advertisement to display. For example, there are three vehiclesapproaching a holographic billboard and the dynamic billboardadvertisement program 110 a, 110 b determines that the first vehicle isa 2017 Model A vehicle, the second vehicle is a 1999 Model B vehicle,and the third vehicle is a 1995 Model C vehicle. The dynamic billboardadvertisement program 110 a, 110 b further determines that the firstvehicle contains one female driver of race X, approximately thirty yearsold; the second vehicle contains one male driver of race Y,approximately 60 years old, and two female children under five yearsold, also of race Y, seated in the backseat; and the third vehiclecontains two males of race Z, approximately 40 years old. The dynamicbillboard advertisement program 110 a, 110 b also determines that thetraffic light situated next to the holographic billboard is currentlygreen, and based on the time that the vehicles passed the camera means,all three vehicles will approach the holographic billboard just as thelight is turning red. Therefore, the dynamic billboard advertisementprogram 110 a, 110 b resolves to display two advertisements during theminute and a half that the vehicles will be stopped at the red light.Since no information was received via Bluetooth®, wi-fi, or over thecellular network, the dynamic billboard advertisement program 110 a, 110b resolves to display a car advertisement for the new Model A truckbased on the fact that two of the three vehicles approaching theholographic billboard are over fifteen years old. The secondadvertisement that the dynamic billboard advertisement program 110 a,110 b displays is based on the advertiser's contract with theholographic billboard's owner and the fact that the company wishes toprioritize advertisements from this advertiser. In this instance, theholographic billboard's owner has its own internal metrics fordetermining what advertiser to prioritize, given a particulardemographic and received device information.

Similarly, the internal metrics of the holographic billboard's owner maydictate what advertisement may be displayed on a holographic billboardor an internal screen when there are no vehicles on the road. Forexample, the owner of the holographic billboard may elect to give freeadvertising time to charity.

Next, at 208, the dynamic billboard advertisement program 110 a, 110 bestablishes a display location. In doing so, the dynamic billboardadvertisement program 110 a, 110 b may make a determination as towhether an approaching traffic light is green or red. This determinationmay be made directly, using image recognition by the dynamic billboardadvertisement program's 110 a, 110 b camera means, or indirectly, alsousing image recognition to determine whether the vehicle is stopped ormoving. For example, if the speed of the vehicle is determined to bemore than a predefined threshold of five miles per hour, then thevehicle is said to be moving and the light is said to be green. In theevent that the traffic light is green, the advertisement resolved to bedisplayed at 206 may be displayed on a freestanding billboard. Bycontrast, if the traffic light is determined to be red, theadvertisement resolved to be displayed at 206 may be displayed on thevehicle's built-in screen. The advertisement determined at 206 to havethe highest priority may also be displayed on a freestanding billboard,and one or more advertisements of lower priority may be displayed on thevehicle's built-in screen, based on the collected vehicle and occupantdata.

Lastly, at 210, the advertisement is projected. The advertisement may bedisplayed on a freestanding billboard using a display means of theholographic billboard itself (e.g., a digital billboard) or aholographic screen with a camera means used in projecting theholographic image onto a holographic screen. The advertisement may alsobe displayed on the vehicle's built-in screen (e.g., entertainmentsystem).

Referring now to FIG. 3, a built-in screen 300 used by the dynamicbillboard advertisement process according to at least one embodiment isdepicted. A built-in screen may be located inside a vehicle, as shown tothe right of the steering wheel, and may be installed by the vehicle'smanufacturer. A built-in screen may also be installed by the vehicle'sowner. A built-in screen may be of any size and may be located anywhereinside the vehicle where it may be viewed by the vehicle's one or moreoccupants. For example, the built-in screen here is depicted in thecenter of the vehicle's front console.

Referring now to FIG. 4, an external billboard 400 used by the dynamicbillboard advertisement process according to at least one embodiment isdepicted. An external billboard may be pre-installed along a roadsidewhere it may be visible to occupants of oncoming vehicles. Externalbillboards may be of varying sizes and shapes and may also be of varyingtechnological capability. Installation of external billboards may beindependent of the dynamic billboard advertisement program 110 a, 110 b.

It may be appreciated that FIGS. 2-4 provide only an illustration of oneembodiment and do not imply any limitations with regard to how differentembodiments may be implemented. Many modifications to the depictedembodiment(s) may be made based on design and implementationrequirements. The dynamic billboard advertisement program 110 a, 110 bis described here in the context of vehicular traffic, however, it mayalso be utilized in other contexts, such as pedestrian traffic both onand off a roadway.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram 900 of internal and external components ofcomputers depicted in FIG. 1 in accordance with an illustrativeembodiment of the present invention. It should be appreciated that FIG.5 provides only an illustration of one implementation and does not implyany limitations with regard to the environments in which differentembodiments may be implemented. Many modifications to the depictedenvironments may be made based on design and implementationrequirements.

Data processing system 902, 904 is representative of any electronicdevice capable of executing machine-readable program instructions. Dataprocessing system 902, 904 may be representative of a smart phone, acomputer system, PDA, or other electronic devices. Examples of computingsystems, environments, and/or configurations that may represented bydata processing system 902, 904 include, but are not limited to,personal computer systems, server computer systems, thin clients, thickclients, hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems,microprocessor-based systems, network PCs, minicomputer systems, anddistributed cloud computing environments that include any of the abovesystems or devices.

User client computer 102 and network server 112 may include respectivesets of internal components 902 a, b and external components 904 a, billustrated in FIG. 5. Each of the sets of internal components 902 a, bincludes one or more processors 906, one or more computer-readable RAMs908 and one or more computer-readable ROMs 910 on one or more buses 912,and one or more operating systems 914 and one or more computer-readabletangible storage devices 916. The one or more operating systems 914, thesoftware program 108 and the dynamic billboard advertisement program 110a in client computer 102, and the dynamic billboard advertisementprogram 110 b in network server 112, may be stored on one or morecomputer-readable tangible storage devices 916 for execution by one ormore processors 906 via one or more RAMs 908 (which typically includecache memory). In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5, each of thecomputer-readable tangible storage devices 916 is a magnetic diskstorage device of an internal hard drive. Alternatively, each of thecomputer-readable tangible storage devices 916 is a semiconductorstorage device such as ROM 910, EPROM, flash memory or any othercomputer-readable tangible storage device that can store a computerprogram and digital information.

Each set of internal components 902 a, b also includes a R/W drive orinterface 918 to read from and write to one or more portablecomputer-readable tangible storage devices 920 such as a CD-ROM, DVD,memory stick, magnetic tape, magnetic disk, optical disk orsemiconductor storage device. A software program, such as the softwareprogram 108 and the dynamic billboard advertisement program 110 a and110 b can be stored on one or more of the respective portablecomputer-readable tangible storage devices 920, read via the respectiveR/W drive or interface 918, and loaded into the respective hard drive916.

Each set of internal components 902 a, b may also include networkadapters (or switch port cards) or interfaces 922 such as a TCP/IPadapter cards, wireless wi-fi interface cards, or 3G or 4G wirelessinterface cards or other wired or wireless communication links. Thesoftware program 108 and the dynamic billboard advertisement program 110a in client computer 102 and the dynamic billboard advertisement program110 b in network server computer 112 can be downloaded from an externalcomputer (e.g., server) via a network (for example, the Internet, alocal area network or other, wide area network) and respective networkadapters or interfaces 922. From the network adapters (or switch portadaptors) or interfaces 922, the software program 108 and the dynamicbillboard advertisement program 110 a in client computer 102 and thedynamic billboard advertisement program 110 b in network server computer112 are loaded into the respective hard drive 916. The network maycomprise copper wires, optical fibers, wireless transmission, routers,firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/or edge servers.

Each of the sets of external components 904 a, b can include a computerdisplay monitor 924, a keyboard 926, and a computer mouse 928. Externalcomponents 904 a, b can also include touch screens, virtual keyboards,touch pads, pointing devices, and other human interface devices. Each ofthe sets of internal components 902 a, b also includes device drivers930 to interface to computer display monitor 924, keyboard 926, andcomputer mouse 928. The device drivers 930, R/W drive or interface 918,and network adapter or interface 922 comprise hardware and software(stored in storage device 916 and/or ROM 910).

It is understood in advance that although this disclosure includes adetailed description on cloud computing, implementation of the teachingsrecited herein are not limited to a cloud computing environment. Rather,embodiments of the present invention are capable of being implemented inconjunction with any other type of computing environment now known orlater developed.

Cloud computing is a model of service delivery for enabling convenient,on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computingresources (e.g., networks, network bandwidth, servers, processing,memory, storage, applications, virtual machines, and services) that canbe rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort orinteraction with a provider of the service. This cloud model may includeat least five characteristics, at least three service models, and atleast four deployment models.

Characteristics are as follows:

On-demand self-service: a cloud consumer can unilaterally provisioncomputing capabilities, such as server time and network storage, asneeded automatically without requiring human interaction with theservice's provider.

Broad network access: capabilities are available over a network andaccessed through standard mechanisms that promote use by heterogeneousthin or thick client platforms (e.g., mobile phones, laptops, and PDAs).

Resource pooling: the provider's computing resources are pooled to servemultiple consumers using a multi-tenant model, with different physicaland virtual resources dynamically assigned and reassigned according todemand. There is a sense of location independence in that the consumergenerally has no control or knowledge over the exact location of theprovided resources but may be able to specify location at a higher levelof abstraction (e.g., country, state, or datacenter).

Rapid elasticity: capabilities can be rapidly and elasticallyprovisioned, in some cases automatically, to quickly scale out andrapidly released to quickly scale in. To the consumer, the capabilitiesavailable for provisioning often appear to be unlimited and can bepurchased in any quantity at any time.

Measured service: cloud systems automatically control and optimizeresource use by leveraging a metering capability at some level ofabstraction appropriate to the type of service (e.g., storage,processing, bandwidth, and active user accounts). Resource usage can bemonitored, controlled, and reported providing transparency for both theprovider and consumer of the utilized service.

Service Models are as follows:

Software as a Service (SaaS): the capability provided to the consumer isto use the provider's applications running on a cloud infrastructure.The applications are accessible from various client devices through athin client interface such as a web browser (e.g., web-based e-mail).The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloudinfrastructure including network, servers, operating systems, storage,or even individual application capabilities, with the possible exceptionof limited user-specific application configuration settings.

Platform as a Service (PaaS): the capability provided to the consumer isto deploy onto the cloud infrastructure consumer-created or acquiredapplications created using programming languages and tools supported bythe provider. The consumer does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure including networks, servers, operating systems, orstorage, but has control over the deployed applications and possiblyapplication hosting environment configurations.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): the capability provided to theconsumer is to provision processing, storage, networks, and otherfundamental computing resources where the consumer is able to deploy andrun arbitrary software, which can include operating systems andapplications. The consumer does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure but has control over operating systems, storage,deployed applications, and possibly limited control of select networkingcomponents (e.g., host firewalls).

Deployment Models are as follows:

Private cloud: the cloud infrastructure is operated solely for anorganization. It may be managed by the organization or a third party andmay exist on-premises or off-premises.

Community cloud: the cloud infrastructure is shared by severalorganizations and supports a specific community that has shared concerns(e.g., mission, security requirements, policy, and complianceconsiderations). It may be managed by the organizations or a third partyand may exist on-premises or off-premises.

Public cloud: the cloud infrastructure is made available to the generalpublic or a large industry group and is owned by an organization sellingcloud services.

Hybrid cloud: the cloud infrastructure is a composition of two or moreclouds (private, community, or public) that remain unique entities butare bound together by standardized or proprietary technology thatenables data and application portability (e.g., cloud bursting forload-balancing between clouds). A virtual private network (VPN) is aform of hybrid cloud consisting of a combination of public and privateinformation technology (IT) infrastructures. A VPN extends a privatenetwork across a public network and enables users to send and receivedata across shared or public networks as if their computing devices weredirectly connected to the private network.

A cloud computing environment is service oriented with a focus onstatelessness, low coupling, modularity, and semantic interoperability.At the heart of cloud computing is an infrastructure comprising anetwork of interconnected nodes.

Referring now to FIG. 6, illustrative cloud computing environment 1000is depicted. As shown, cloud computing environment 1000 comprises one ormore cloud computing nodes 100 with which local computing devices usedby cloud consumers, such as, for example, personal digital assistant(PDA) or cellular telephone 1000A, desktop computer 1000B, laptopcomputer 1000C, and/or automobile computer system 1000N may communicate.Nodes 100 may communicate with one another. They may be grouped (notshown) physically or virtually, in one or more networks, such asPrivate, Community, Public, or Hybrid clouds as described hereinabove,or a combination thereof. This allows cloud computing environment 1000to offer infrastructure, platforms and/or software as services for whicha cloud consumer does not need to maintain resources on a localcomputing device. It is understood that the types of computing devices1000A-N shown in FIG. 6 are intended to be illustrative only and thatcomputing nodes 100 and cloud computing environment 1000 can communicatewith any type of computerized device over any type of network and/ornetwork addressable connection (e.g., using a web browser).

Referring now to FIG. 7, a set of functional abstraction layers 1100provided by cloud computing environment 1000 is shown. It should beunderstood in advance that the components, layers, and functions shownin FIG. 7 are intended to be illustrative only and embodiments of theinvention are not limited thereto. As depicted, the following layers andcorresponding functions are provided:

Hardware and software layer 1102 includes hardware and softwarecomponents. Examples of hardware components include: mainframes 1104;RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) architecture based servers 1106;servers 1108; blade servers 1110; storage devices 1112; and networks andnetworking components 1114. In some embodiments, software componentsinclude network application server software 1116 and database software1118.

Virtualization layer 1120 provides an abstraction layer from which thefollowing examples of virtual entities may be provided: virtual servers1122; virtual storage 1124; virtual networks 1126, including virtualprivate networks; virtual applications and operating systems 1128; andvirtual clients 1130.

In one example, management layer 1132 may provide the functionsdescribed below. Resource provisioning 1134 provides dynamic procurementof computing resources and other resources that are utilized to performtasks within the cloud computing environment. Metering and Pricing 1136provide cost tracking as resources are utilized within the cloudcomputing environment, and billing or invoicing for consumption of theseresources. In one example, these resources may comprise applicationsoftware licenses. Security provides identity verification for cloudconsumers and tasks, as well as protection for data and other resources.User portal 1138 provides access to the cloud computing environment forconsumers and system administrators. Service level management 1140provides cloud computing resource allocation and management such thatrequired service levels are met. Service Level Agreement (SLA) planningand fulfillment 1142 provide pre-arrangement for, and procurement of,cloud computing resources for which a future requirement is anticipatedin accordance with an SLA.

Workloads layer 1144 provides examples of functionality for which thecloud computing environment may be utilized. Examples of workloads andfunctions which may be provided from this layer include: mapping andnavigation 1146; software development and lifecycle management 1148;virtual classroom education delivery 1150; data analytics processing1152; transaction processing 1154; and dynamic billboard advertisement1156. A dynamic billboard advertisement program 110 a, 110 b provides away to display dynamic advertisements on a freestanding billboard or ona vehicle's built-in screen based on various viewer characteristics andexternal factors.

The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present inventionhave been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intendedto be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope of the describedembodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain theprinciples of the embodiments, the practical application or technicalimprovement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodimentsdisclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for displaying dynamic advertisements,the method comprising: determining that a vehicle is approaching adisplay location; receiving a plurality of data associated with theapproaching vehicle; resolving an advertisement to be displayed based onthe received plurality of data; establishing the display location basedon the received plurality of data; and projecting the resolvedadvertisement at the established display location.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein determining that the vehicle is approaching the displaylocation comprises utilizing a camera, a laser, or an inductive sensor.3. The method of claim 1, wherein resolving the advertisement to bedisplayed based on the received plurality of data, further comprisesanalyzing a plurality of external factors, wherein the external factorsinclude a time of day factor, a number of approaching vehicles factor, arush hour travel time factor, and a profit generated factor.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein establishing the display location based onthe received plurality of data further comprises: determining that theapproaching vehicle will be affected by a red traffic light.
 5. Themethod of claim 4, wherein determining that the approaching vehicle willbe affected by a red traffic light further comprises measuring a speedof the approaching vehicle.
 6. The method of claim 1, whereinestablishing the display location based on the received plurality ofdata further comprises: determining that the approaching vehicle willencounter a green traffic light.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein theestablished display location is selected from the group consisting of afreestanding digital billboard, a freestanding holographic billboard,and a built-in vehicle screen.